KEY POINTS:
The sight of Sonny Bill Williams lying prone on the Telstra Stadium turf and clutching his left knee following a massive collision just before halftime would have sent shudders through the Kiwis camp.
But for once, with Friday's Anzac test looming, the injury-prone prodigy's apparent woe proved a
false alarm. Williams picked himself up gingerly and hobbled to the sheds.
Seventy seconds into the second half, he helped turn a mediocre contest into something just a little special, swatting the ball from Anthony Watmough's grasp to force a turnover and then cutting though the Manly line with ease for a classy try.
Williams' intervention brought a contest - billed as the match of the round and which doubled as an Anzac test trial for a host of participants - to life. Certainly the first half failed to live up to expectations.
Manly, who headed into the match having been supplanted at the top of the NRL table by Melbourne Storm, who defeated St George earlier in the evening, were content to rely on the suffocating defence that had seen them make an unblemished start to this year's campaign. For the majority of the opening half, it worked.
Two Bulldogs first-tackle errors, the latter by Williams, provided the Sea Eagles with an open invitation to score and they accepted the gift, with winger Michael Robertson crossing unopposed in the corner on 12 minutes.
The Bulldogs might have gone into the match favourites but did little to justify the tag, fumbling and bumbling their way through the first 35 minutes.
Still, with the Sea Eagles so clearly bereft of attacking nous in the continued absence of offensive spark plugs Matt Orford and Steve Menzies, it came as no surprise when the Dogs took the lead shortly before the break.
For once it was Manly who committed the early-tackle error on their own line and Dallas McIlwain made them pay with a smart scoot from dummy half. Hazem El Masri's conversion put the Dogs in front and when he added the extras to Williams' try shortly after the restart, it looked as if they would run away with it.
But when El Masri fumbled a kick to gift Manly wing Chris Hicks a try, the match was in the balance.
Manly haven't had to chase too many games this season and El Masri's 66th-minute penalty made their job a little tougher, stretching the lead to four. But the Sea Eagles responded in style, with halfback Michael Monighan regathering his chip before feeding centre Steven Bell for a brilliant try that Jamie Lyon converted to preserve their undefeated record.
Bulldogs 14 (D. McIlwain, SB Williams tries, H. El Masri 3 goals) Sea Eagles 16 (M. Robertson, C. Hicks, S. Bell tries, J. Lyon 2 goals). HT: Bulldogs 6-4.